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As to bases etc. to paint the middle row, stick them to a popsickle stick, or ( I have just got) try the painting crocodile clip sticks off wish. Couple quid got me something like 40 of them, and yes they took months to arrive, but the idea is sound, and they work well for small parts/people.

As to the trays, I have been toying with an idea for a while ( here is an example, but they have them in lots of different sizes, and come cheaper than this if you get them from the right place. Just sharing a thought I have been mucking about with for ages. Not sure how much yours are costing so may not be worth messing about.

As to bases etc. to paint the middle row, stick them to a popsickle stick, or ( I have just got) try the painting crocodile clip sticks off wish. Couple quid got me something like 40 of them, and yes they took months to arrive, but the idea is sound, and they work well for small parts/people.

As to the trays, I have been toying with an idea for a while ( here is an example, but they have them in lots of different sizes, and come cheaper than this if you get them from the right place. Just sharing a thought I have been mucking about with for ages. Not sure how much yours are costing so may not be worth messing about.

Crocodile/alligator clips are a great idea. I might have to look for some without the teeth.

The bases cost $0.45, so quite reasonable for what you get. I probably should have gone with 60mm by 80mm, to account for some variance in washer size, but oh well.

Over that few days I have been doing some minor conversion work to mount Aventine Miniatures onto Wargames Factory horses. Mostly they fit, and I just have to sculpt a cloth to ride on and a belly band. I did modify the unit leader to be holding a sword.

My green stuff skills are merely passable, but it should look fine painted.

Automatically Appended Next Post: Denizens of a wretched hive of scum and villainy, a notorious bounty hunter crew. Red Ryder, the most famous bounty hunter in the galaxy, has hired a motley crew to assist him on his latest caper.

Most of the figures, save Ryder himself, are Khurusan which I have modified in various ways (save the for the guy in beige/green/purple).

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2019/02/03 21:18:42

I backed Bad Squiddo's female samurai campaign on kickstarter and picked up a couple pieces. That inspired me to dig out some of my Kensei figures and start painting up a number of figures. This will be one of Otomo's daughters and her retinue. I can either use them as unarmored Bushi or as Koryu.

The old man from scene 24 was mildly converted using some wargames factory parts to be holding a sheathed katana. Still all very work in progress.

Spoiler:

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2019/03/11 23:11:13

I printed out the rules for Kensei, and their models look great, but something always stops me from getting into it . Plus they just did a Kickstarter for a samurai football team that looks amazing.

LOL, Theo your mind is an amazing place, never change.-camkierhi 9/19/13
I cant believe theo is right.. damn. -comradepanda 9/26/13
None of the strange ideas we had about you involved your sexual orientation..........-Monkeytroll 12/10/13

I'd put you on ignore for that comment, if I could...Alpharius 2/11/14

This past Friday was our regular gaming night. I volunteered to host and come up with a scenario for Saga involving Normans vs Saxons. This was a four player game, with two Norman players and two Saxon players, all with 4 point warbands. The scenario was set as a continuation of past scenarios, which synced up with actual history (yay!). Last time the Normans had captured the treasure chest and foiled the Saxon plot involving it to hire mercenaries and oppose Norman occupation. Unhappy with the continued "disloyalty", William has ordered the Harrying_of_the_North. The Norman players are one of these warbands sent to burn and destroy (remember pillage then burn) Saxon villages as part of a scorched earth policy. The village is just outside the walls of a fort or burgh, and the Normans have arrived early in the morning to the shock and surprise of the locals. Thus there were a number of civilians out and about, including the wife of the thane and the local bishop. The Norman objective was to kill as many people as they could, loot buildings, and capture the bishop or the lady if they can for ransom. The Saxons were trying to get the populace into the fort and stop the looting. Half the Saxon force started in the fort, and half just outside it, spread out around the village. The Saxons could not close the gates to the fort if a friendly model was within 6" of them, potentially letting the Normans storm the fort. To loot the building the Norman's rolled a D3 (1-2 they looted it that turn, 3-4 looted it on the following turn, 5-6 the turn after that) to see how much effort it took to find the valuables. The bishop and lady were worth 5 points, the peasants worth 1 point, and loot was a random selection (outer buildings were 1-2 points, inner buildings such as the church and tithe barn 4-7). Woods acted as light cover and reduced movement by one level (12" to 6", 6" to 4", 4" to 2") as per the standard Saga movement lengths.

I used a fixed turn sequence (mistake number one), Norman player A went first, then Saxon A, then Saxon B, then Norman B. In retrospect I should have randomized it. It let certain players dominate the tempo vs their respective opponent in a way that wasn't intended (Saxon B could always setup a particular way, being closest to Norman B, he knew what the first moves would be each turn). The second mistake was not giving the Normans a free move to start the game. The positioning was right (either end of the main cross road), but letting the game start as normal gave the Saxons too much of an advantage in maneuvering out of the gate.

Spoiler:

The Normans opened up sending their cavalry in advance of their foot troops and missile support. With no Saxon hearthguard on the table, they assumed the fyrd would be easy pickings (I included no hearthguard, as by this point much of the Saxon nobility was dead/wounded, and it worked better with their battleboard to bulk up on Warriors). Overly impetuous, they slammed into the first block of Saxons without setting up for the charge. The first clash was a defeat for the Norman Hearthguard, who tried to regroup but were quickly over-run by the Saxon warriors. Determined to try and slow the Saxons down, Norman warriors charged into the Saxons who were by now prepared for them, and Clash of Shields (which cut the Norman attacks by 6, due to 11 men in the Saxon unit) saw them butchered to a man.

Spoiler:

The doughty Saxons were slowly ground down, but more then made up for it by then chopping up a unit of warriors on foot. On the otherside, the Normans couldn't get their crossbows into position, and were again unprepared when combat started. The Saxons had by now come out of the fort, and seeing the first building go up in a blaze (Wace, you idiot, pillage it first then burn it! Oooh, right...) angrily rushed in to defend. The second Norman Hearthguard was more successful in that they survived their combat, but had only one man left who they rode down two peasants deep in the heart of the rapidly forming Saxon lines before also being cut down. Ivo Talifer's twin brother perhaps?

Spoiler:

The Norman bow finally broke cover and shot up some Saxons after looting a house, but otherwise were too late to save that flank. In the end, the Saxons rolled up both flanks, even slaughtering the levy. Only the warlords survived to run away and try and grovel before William for another chance. Odds being high he hung them and proceeded to promote new leaders who could get the job done.

Spoiler:

So in hindsight, two glaring mistakes on my part setting up the scenario.

1. fixed turn orders - Norman player B got massacred due to Saxon player B knowing who would go first each time. Saxon B could stack his board to really cripple the Norman player with no risk to himself.
2. Not giving the Normans a free move - this meant the Normans lost valuable time and could not advance far enough up the field before the Saxons started grinding them down

Not mistakes, but lessons learned:

1. The Norman players had not used them in a while. As a Norman player you MUST soften up your foe before you charge in or you must have some potent abilities stacked up. Cavalry are not auto win units. The Normans advanced way to far ahead of their foot and missile troops.
2. Bad dice can't save you, particularly if the plan isn't effective. Norman player A split his forces slightly, bogging part of his men down in the woods trying to setup a killing field. Then proceeded to roll very poorly against a unit of warriors who almost single handedly decimated his entire force. They finally died, but not before crushing his hearthguard, Norman B's hearthguard, Norman A's mounted warriors, and Norman A's foot warriors (at one point actually pivoting after smashing one unit to ram home into the next who had setup right behind them). There are epic songs told about their heroism, let me tell you.

This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2019/03/12 03:39:09

An office building/apartment building for 15mm. This had a number of first for me, such as a curved wall, and doing something other than painted windows (GCminis show some cool blue film for this but are out of stock, so I found some foil at Michaels to try out). The original plan was to make it section-able, so that you could play inside it. However, that was way to ambitious for this, and I'll try that on something two story and simpler.

I also finished up the samurai pieces. Some good stuff for a koryu (school) or random hire-able folks for other buntais (plus a peasant for scenarios) I need to make some bandits at some point.

The building seems to have some rough joints, but paint may take care of that, I like the 70s office building future, reminds me the Gil Gerard Buck Rogers with all these concrete buildings masquerading as the 25th century.

Those Kensei minis look fantastic , I’ve got to visit their range and do some thinking.

Apartment building is great as well.

Battle report seems like much fun was had.

LOL, Theo your mind is an amazing place, never change.-camkierhi 9/19/13
I cant believe theo is right.. damn. -comradepanda 9/26/13
None of the strange ideas we had about you involved your sexual orientation..........-Monkeytroll 12/10/13

I'd put you on ignore for that comment, if I could...Alpharius 2/11/14